“From writer/director Jake Paltrow comes a futuristic western, told in three chapters, which inventively layers Greek tragedy over an ethereal narrative that’s steeped deeply in the values of the American West.” I’m in. Did I mention that the film has a great cast? Michael Shannon, Elle Fanning, Nicholas Hoult and Kodi Smit-McPhee lead this story. Watch the Young Ones trailer embedded after the jump.

Jake made his feature directorial debut with The Good Night starring his sister Gwyneth, which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. His followup, Young Ones, also played the Sundance Film Festival but was met with somewhat mixed reviews, with most complaining that the film tries to squeeze too much into the short running time. Screen International said that Young Ones “gives us a futuristic Western so bleak that its pitiless tone becomes downright mesmerizing.” Okay, I’m still in.

Here is the official plot synopsis for Young Ones:

YOUNG ONES is set in a near future when water has become the most precious and dwindling resource on the planet, one that dictates everything from the macro of political policy to the detailed micro of interpersonal family and romantic relationships. The land has withered into something wretched. The dust has settled on a lonely, barren planet. The hardened survivors of the loss of Earth’s precious resources scrape and struggle. Ernest Holm (Michael Shannon) lives on this harsh frontier with his children, Jerome (Kodi Smit McPhee)and Mary (Elle Fanning). He defends his farm from bandits, works the supply routes, and hopes to rejuvenate the soil. But Mary’s boyfriend, Flem Lever (Nicholas Hoult), has grander designs. He wants Ernest’s land for himself, and will go to any length to get it. From writer/director Jake Paltrow comes a futuristic western, told in three chapters, which inventively layers Greek tragedy over an ethereal narrative that’s steeped deeply in the values of the American West.